Freezers

There are two types of freezers: upright/vertical, which looks similar to a standard fridge, and chest, which has a hinging lid on top. Choosing your ideal type requires more than considering if it’ll keep your food cold.

Upright/vertical

Pros:

• easy to see and access food
  
• drawers and shelves for organising food
• most are frost-free
  
• small footprint.

Cons:

• not as good at keeping consistent temperature
• more expensive to buy.

Chest

Pros:

• available in larger sizes (500L+)
• better overall temperature performance
• cheaper to buy.
  

Cons:

• limited storage options (such as baskets)
• can be awkward reaching for food in the bottom
• usually requires manual defrosting
• takes up more space
• quicker to warm up during a power cut.

Vertical freezers are available with shelves or drawers which are easier to access. Shelves allow you to open the door and easily see what’s there. Some have extending telescopic runners, but check how easily they roll, their weight capacity and whether they have a lip at the front, sides and back to stop food falling out when you move them.

Sliding drawers may take up more potential storage space than shelves, but they make it easier to access food (check they slide smoothly). Some have opaque fronts, so you might need to label what’s in them to make finding things easier.

• Controls: Most freezer temperature controls should be regularly adjusted to account for ambient temperature changes. Upright freezers often have digital controls while chest models commonly have conventional dials, which can require a coin or screwdriver to adjust. Controls in upright freezers are often found on the front or inside of the compartment, which means you may need to move food to reach them. Chest freezer controls are often located low on the front or rear of the appliance. Check you can comfortably adjust the controls.
  
• Liners: Some freezers come with thin aluminium liners. Look for heavy-duty liners that won’t easily dent.
• Interior light: Lights are more common in upright models. Check the location of the light and how far it illuminates as food can block it.
• Defrosting and draining water: Most chest freezers need regular defrosting otherwise ice can build up, stopping food from being chilled effectively. Defrosting requires you remove all the food, warm the freezer up, then drain off melted water. To make this easier, look for a model with a drain bung at the front and a spout to help minimise spills. The drain should be high enough for you to fit a container underneath.
  

Insulation thickness and the size and type of compressor can have a big effect on a freezer’s efficiency. When you’re comparing freezers, check the energy use figures on the labels. The annual running costs from our test or use claimed energy use on the Energy Rating website.

You can help your freezer manage temperature and save energy by placing it in an area with stable ambient temperatures (for example, out of the sun and away from draughts). It’s tempting to put a freezer in the garage, but large doors regularly opening and closing can result in large temperature changes occurring around it.

Like a fridge, a freezer is always running. This means a loud one can become a major annoyance.

We trawled through our test data and analysed noise readings for household appliances, including dishwashers, washing machines and vacuum cleaners. Fridges and freezers were the quietest, with an average running noise of 35dBA. That’s almost as quiet as a whisper.

The decibel scale is logarithmic, not linear, this means a 30dBA freezer can sound twice as loud as a 20dBA model. Most people will only notice a difference of 3dBA or greater.

• 35dBA – Fridges and freezers (equivalent to a whisper)
• 48dBA – Dishwashers (equivalent to normal conversation)
• 55dBA – Clothes dryers and dehumidifiers (equivalent to moderate rainfall)
• 60dBA – Washing machines (equivalent to normal conversation/TV)
• 70dBA – Vacuum cleaners (equivalent to a dull roar)
  

The design and layout of your home also affects how noisy you’ll find a freezer. Sound waves are dispersed by objects, which will muffle the sound. This means open-plan areas do little to minimise a freezer’s noise.

Our members often ask why our noise readings don’t match those stated by the manufacturer. The answer is they are measured in different conditions. When we test noise, we want our results to be directly comparable to other models we’ve tested. This means they’re all tested in the same lab and under the same conditions. This won’t be the same as how manufacturers measure noise.